Multiple station valve manifold with optional supply



W. CARLS June 6, 1967 MULTIPLE STATION VALVE MANIFOLD WITH OPTIONAL SUPPLY Filed April 12, 1965 4 SheetS SIheet 2 FIG.3

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MULTIPLE STATION VALVE MANIFOLD WITH OPTIONAL SUPPLY Filed April 12, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.4 3s 40 34 INVENTOR WILLIAM CAR LS Bl m m A TTORNEJS W. CARLS June 6, 1967 4 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed April 12, 1965 F'IG.6

United States Patent 3,323,545 MULTIPLE STATION VALVE MANIFOLD WITH OPTIUNAL SUPPLY William Caris, Highland, Mich, assignor to Numatics, Incorporated, Highland, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Apr. 12, 1.965, Ser. No. 447,450

3 Ciaims. ((11. l37608) This invention relates to a multiple station valve manifold with optional supply and in particular to a manifold of this kind with a supply passage which can be utilized either for a common supply source for all valve stations or readily converted to a manifold with optional supplies utilizing differential pressures or even pressure combined with vacuum. Reference is made to my co-pending application Ser. No. 69,106, filed Nov. 14, 1960, wherein there is shown a manifold of the general type disclosed herein where there is a straight-through passage for a common pressure source.

On occasions when a customer will order a manifold of this kind for use with diiferent pressures at any particular valve stations, it is necessary to have the casting especially made with an interrupted core for the particular valve mount station requiring special pressure. Where it may have been relatively simple to locate and position the continuous core in a casting operation, nevertheless, when it is necessary to interrupt this core, it is supported by only one branch passage which rises to the top of the manifold and, due to this delicate suspension, the core is very apt to get out of line in the casting operation. Also, making special castings with a broken core line for the pressure passage has sometimes delayed production and shipment as much as six weeks.

The present invention contemplates a manifold which obviates the necessity for special casting when these requests come through for special pressure application at certain valve stations. According to the present invention, the manifold is cast with a continuous pressure passage underlying all valve stations and when it is necessary to utilize special pressure sources for any particular station, a novel blocking system has been devised so that the continuous passage can be readily plugged between valve stations, thus blocking it off from the main pressure source. In addition, the manifold has been modified in such a way that access to the cylinder ports of the various valve stations is now possible from three different walls of the manifold, thus increasing the versatility and convenience of the manifold.

Other objects and features of the invention relating to details of construction and operation will be apparent in the following description and claims.

Drawings accompany the disclosure and the various views thereof may be briefly described as:

FIGURE 1, a horizontal section of a manifold showing a two-station valve manifold which, of course, can represent a manifold with any number of valve stations.

FIGURE 2, a sectional view of the manifold showing also a valve mounted thereon on line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3, a sectional view of the manifold on line 3-3 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4, a sectional view of the manifold and valve on line 44 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5, a sectional view on line 55 of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 6, an exploded view of the cored passages in the manifold to facilitate understanding of the passages.

FIGURE 7, a view of the cored passages moved together in their actual positions to illustrate the relationship of the passages within the manifold.

FIGURE 8, a view of one side of a multiple station valve manifold.

3,323,545 Patented June 6, 1957 FIGURE 9, a sectional view on line 9-9 of FIG- URE 8.

Referring to the drawings:

In FIGURE 1, a two-station manifold 20 is shown in a horizontal section, it being understood that this could be any multiple of stations which can be conveniently cast into a single manifold. A back plate 22 in the rear side of the manifold held by screws 24 closes a relatively large longitudinal passage 26 which extends from end to end of the manifold terminating in threaded openings 28 and 30, this passage being primarily for the control wires leading to the operating solenoids (not shown) which are housed in the cases 32 attached to valve housings 34. These valve housings are shown in section in FIGURES 4 and 5 having a bore 36 for receiving a control spool (not shown). The valve construction can be similar to that shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,152,614.

The top of the valve housing also has a chamber 38 with an opening 40 for the introduction of lead wires for a solenoid in the event the valve is used individually. The valve housing 34 receives its control from the manifold and there are two exhaust ports, two cylinder ports and one pressure port normally found in these valve constructions. In FIGURES 4 and 5, the exhaust ports are shown as E and E and the pressure port centrally of the group is shown at P. The cylinder ports spaced between the exhaust ports and the pressure port are shown at C and C The bottom of the valve chamber is formed with exhaust ports 42 and 44 which register with ports 46 and 48 in the top of the manifold.

A pressure port 50 is formed in the valve housing between the exhaust ports as shown in FIGURE 5 and this registers with a port 52 in the top of the manifold. As shown in FIGURE 4, the cylinder ports C and C join with ports 54 and 56 in the bottom of the valve housing which register with ports 58 and 60 in the top of the manifold. The ports 46, 48, 52, 58 and 60 are clustered as shown in FIGURE 7. The passages which connect with this cluster of ports are shown in the sectional views. In each section, there is shown a passage 62 which is a pressure passage extending lengthwise through the manifold as shown in FIGURE 1, terminating at one end at a port 64 and at another end at a port 66. The exhaust ports E and E of the valve bore connecting with the top ports 46 and 48 of the manifold are extended downwardly in two L-shaped passages wherein the port 46 passes through a passage 68 to an outside port 70 and the port 48 connects through a passage 72 to an outside port 74, shown best in FIGURE 5.

The cylinder ports C and C are connected to the manifold ports 58 and 60 shown in part in FIGURE 4. The port 58 leads through a reverse L-shaped passage 76 having an irregular bottom leg 78 with a short rise 80 and a rearward extension 82 terminating in a threaded port 84. In the bottom of the manifold is another threaded port 86 connected to the passage 80 and in the front of the manifold is a threaded port 88 connected to the passage 76. The cylinder port 60 leads rearwardly and downwardly in a passage 90 which also moves laterally (longitudinally of the overall manifold) in a passage 92 to a reversed L-shaped passage extending along the bottom of the manifold as shown in FIGURE 3 and having a section 94 connecting to the portion 92 with a forward run 96 terminating in a front port 98, a rearward run 100 terminating in a rear threaded port 1 02. A bottom port 104 connects to the portion 94 as shown in FIGURE 3. Thus, each of the cylinder ports is accessible from the front face, the rear face, and the bottom face of the manifold.

Thus, it will be seen that when a common source of pressure is applied to the longitudinal passage 62, it will reach each of the riser passages 52 which carry it to the central pressure port of the valve housing. Shifting of the valve will connect the cylinder ports alternately to pressure and exhaust for normal four-way operation.

In some instances when it is desirable to apply indi vidual pressures to the valves for particular controlling mechanisms which require different power inputs, or in some instances where vacuum is used instead of pressure, it is desirable to have a manifold which permits this individual application. As previously pointed out, if this is a cast manifold, special castings must be made and it is extremely difficult to break up the passage 62 into individual short passages which will service each individual port 52.

The present invention contemplates solving this problem by inserting a plug transversely of the passage 62 as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. This is accomplished by drilling a passage 106 directly into the face of the manifold in a manner to intersect the passage 62. This hole is drilled with a dimension substantially equal to that of the passage 62 and penetrates into the housing a little bit beyond the passage 62. Then, a neoprene plug 108 is driven into the hole 106 in such a manner that it completely blocks the passage 62. This plug is backed up by a solid metal disc 110 and a screw plug 112 which permits pressure to be applied against the disc 110 and accordingly against the neoprene plug 108 forcing it to expand somewhat into passage 62. This permits pressure to be introduced through port 64, for example, to service the port 52 with one pressure while pressure could be introduced through port 66 to service the valve station at the right-hand end of the bank with another pressure. It is also possible to introduce different pressures into the exhaust ports 70 and 74 and to connect these to the cylinder ports while the pressure port serves as an exhaust port.

In a multiple station manifold, it is possible also to isolate certain stations from the normal pressure passage 62 and introduce individual pressures through passages provided for this purpose at each valve station. For example, in FIGURE 8, a four-station manifold is illustrated, the front face having at each station the exhaust ports 70 and 74 and the working ports 88 and 98. The stations are designated A, B, C and D.

Between stations A and B a plug 112 is shown and similarly between stations C and D a plug 112 is shown indicating that the pressure passage 62 is blocked at these points. Thus, stations A and D can receive pressure at the ends of the manifold and stations B and C can receive pressure from a front port 120 or optionally from a bottom port 122 leading to passage 62 between the plugs.

I claim:

1. In combination with a multiple station valve manifold of the type having a common pressure supply passage extending from end to end to supply fluid under pressure to a valve at each station, a means for isolating a valve station which comprises a passageway in said manifold extending from one face thereof to intercept said supply passage in its entire transverse dimension, a resilient plug in said passageway bridging the supply passage, and expanded slightly into said passage to completely block said passage, and means for retaining said plug under pressure in said passageway comprising a screw insert threadingly engaging said manifold in said passageway and bearing against said plug.

2. In combination with a multiple station valve manifold of the type having a common pressure supply passage extending from end to end to supply fluid under pressure to a valve at each station, a means for isolating a valve station which comprises a passageway in said manifold extending from one face thereof to intercept said supply passage in its entire transverse dimension and extending into said manifold beyond said supply passage, a resilient plug in said passageway bridging the supply passage and extending to each side of said passage, said plug being expanded slightly into said passage to completely block said passage, and means for retaining said plug under pressure in said passageway comprising a screw insert threadingly engaging said manifold in said passageway and bearing against said plug.

3. In combination with a multiple station valve manifold of the type having a common pressure supply pas sage extending from end to end to supply fluid under pressure to a valve at each station, a means for isolating a valve station which comprises a passageway in said manifold extending from one face thereof to intercept said supply passage in its entire transverse dimension, a resilient plug in said passageway bridging the supply passage, and expanded slightly into said passage to completely block said passage, and means for retaining said plug under pressure in said passageway comprising a screw insert threadingly engaging said manifold in said passageway and bearing against said plug, and means forming optional pressure passages, normally closed, and selectively accessible to supply pressure fluid to a valve station when the supply passage is blocked to said station.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,591,564 4/1952 Lind 29428 2,898,079 8/1959 Rittenhouse 137-269 X 2,974,407 3/1961 Barr 29428 3,000,397 9/1961 Schmiel 137596.13 3,025,878 3/1962 Hupp 137608 X 3,072,148 1/1963 Carls 137596 3,158,164 11/1964 Barton 137608 X 3,219,053 11/1965 Hupp 137269 M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

S. SCOTT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A MULTIPLE STATION VALVE MANIFOLD OF THE TYPE HAVING A COMMON PRESSURE SUPPLY PASSAGE EXTENDING FROM END TO END TO SUPPLY FLUID UNDER PRESSURE TO A VALVE AT EACH STATION, A MEANS FOR ISOLATING A VALVE STATION WHICH COMPRISES A PASSAGEWAY IN SAID MANIFOLD EXTENDING FROM ONE FACE THEREOF TO INTERCEPT SAID SUPPLY PASSAGE IN ITS ENTIRE TRANSVERSE DIMENSION, A RESILIENT PLUG IN SAID PASSGEWAY BRIDGING THE SUPPLY PASSAGE, AND EXPANDED SLIGHTLY INTO SAID PASSAGE TO COMPLETELY BLOCK SAID PASSAGE, AND MEANS FOR RETAINING SAID PLUG UNDER PRESSURE IN SAID PASSAGEWAY COMPRISING A SCREW INSERT THREADINGLY ENGAGING SAID MANIFOLD IN SAID PASSAGEWAY AND BEARING AGAINST SAID PLUG. 